2019 Hembrough Grant Recipient – Alanna

Up to
this day, Alanna has lived her whole life in Kentucky, with limited resources
and connections to the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, she did not know she was a part
of the community until about 2006; which is when she experienced puberty. She
always had a natural discomfort and sadness to her personality, but could never
pin-point the source until puberty. Her puberty experience felt like her body
was betraying her by changing her body in all of the wrong ways. Even though
this was a miserable experience, it at least helped identify the root cause of
the negative emotions.

Alanna
overcame many barriers in order to get where she is today. It took her longer
than expected, but she began her biomedical gender transition in the summer of
2015. At that point, her life no longer felt like a miserable lie. She started
introducing herself to others using her real name and pronouns. There were many
ups and downs during this first transitional year, but overall it was more
uplifting than anything else.

Flashforward
to 2019. Alanna frequently forgets that she is a transgender female (as opposed
to a cisgender female) and is really happy with who she is. Now most of her
struggles are more relatable to cisgender Americans: paying off massive student
loans, finding and maintaining a phenomenal career, maintaining good health,
and establishing an ideal work-life balance. Right now, she simply needs some
financial assistance with surgery to help her cope with lingering gender
dysphoria. This is where the Jim Collins Foundation heroically comes in. Below
is Alanna’s post-reaction testimony.

After the Jim Collins Foundation contacted me with the great news, I was filled with complete happiness and relief. They are helping me accomplish my greatest personal goal and I will be forever thankful for their help.